Fund houses have been actively looking at allowing their registrar and transfer agents (RTAs) like CAMS and KFintech to accept scanned copy of physical application form to execute transactions in mutual funds, said three senior officials familiar with the development.
A senior official of RTA told Cafemutual that his company is ready with necessary infrastructure to execute MF transactions based on scanned copy of physical form. However, AMCs have to take a call on this.
Another senior RTA official said that while a few fund houses have been allowing investors to send scanned copies of physical forms, most fund houses are still relying on digital means to honour transactions including redemptions.
A CEO of a private fund house said that AMCs will have to accept scanned copies if the government extends the lockdown.
Earlier this month, AMFI had asked fund houses not to accept physical application forms for MF transactions and allow only online transactions through electronic modes such as mutual fund websites, web-portals, digital platforms, apps and virtual channels.
Meanwhile, many distributors have started using transaction apps offered by RTAs to execute transaction in mutual funds. Sreekanth Nadella, COO, KFintech said, “Given the country wide lock down, KFintech, with the support from our clients, has created a simplified transaction reporting process. In fact, our DIT and other apps have seen more than 150% hike in volume of transactions.”
Similarly, Srikant VJ Tanikella, COO, CAMS said that his company has witnessed a huge spurt in downloads of Edge360 app after AMFI asked fund houses to stop accepting physical forms. Also, the RTA agents along with CAMS serviced fund houses have been asking their distributors to use the app to onboard new investors, comply with regulatory norms and track brokerage.
Cafemutual asked RTAs about the additional services offered by them to distributors in times of Covid-19. Here is what they have to say:
KFintech
While we support the lockdown as directed by the government in the interest of the nation’s health and safety, we wanted to ensure our esteemed clients, distributors and investors do not face any hurdle with respect to their financial transacting needs. We have enabled several convenient measures and planned the capacities to ensure continuation of our services without disruption, said V Ganesh, MD and CEO, KFintech.
Among key initiatives of KFintech to ensure business continuity are enabling transaction facility on email, addressing service related queries of investors and distributors through toll free help line number and generating reports on key business aspects such as GST invoicing.
Franklin Templeton
We have activated our business continuity plan to ensure the safety of our employees, while also ensuring that we do not experience disruption to our business operations or client service. We would like to assure investors and partners that our team is successfully working from home and will be available to serve your investment needs. This includes our customer service and call centre team as well.
We encourage investors and our partners to use our digital platforms that have been designed to service them from the safety and comfort of their home. They can also reach our customer service team at:
- Investors: 18004254255 / 18002584255 from 8 am – 9 pm. (Except Sundays) or email us on service@franklintempleton.com.
- Distribution Partners: 18004259100 from 9 am – 6 pm (Weekdays) and 9 am – 2 pm (Saturdays) or email us on distserve@franklintempleton.com
